Leng Xi gritted his teeth and looked at Concubine Li, his eyes filled with confusion. He began to become more and more angry, and said bluntly:
"Mother, for the past five years, you have been forcing me every moment. I have told you time and again that I will not associate with the people of Chu. Why do you still insist on doing so?"
As he said this, veins bulged on his face and his complexion turned as pale as paper.
Concubine Li sneered nonchalantly, then stood up from the chair in the main hall, walked slowly to his side, and said seriously:
"Xi'er, it's not that mother wants to force you, but you have to do this. Don't think that the competition for the throne between you and Leng Yu will be as simple as you think. You are wrong. Leng Yu has not only Liu Dechang behind him, but also your father and Shui Luolan. Shui Luolan is very popular among the people of the capital. Even if you and Leng Yu stand on opposite sides in the future, the people will unconditionally support him. You only have mother. Although mother has accumulated some power over the years, compared with these people, it is just using one arm to twist the thigh. Therefore, the people of the Western Regions are the key to your success."
As soon as she finished speaking, Li Tianyang walked in with a masked woman in black.
He came before Leng Xi and Concubine Li, clasped his fists and saluted, saying:
"Noble Concubine Li, Prince Xi."
Leng Xi looked at him with disdain. He hated these people from the Western Regions from the bottom of his heart.
Concubine Li looked at him, nodded, and looked at the masked woman with dark eyes and asked:
"Is this the woman you were talking about?"
Li Tianyang raised his eyebrows and nodded, "Yes, her name is Sina..."
The woman named Sina saw that Concubine Li did not salute, but looked at her sharply without saying a word. On the contrary, Concubine Li bowed to her respectfully.
Leng Xi was very curious about Concubine Li's behavior. He looked at her in confusion, but Concubine Li had already asked Xina and Li Tianyang to sit down.
This time, Concubine Li did not sit in the main seat, but sat opposite them. She signaled Leng Xi with her eyes to sit next to her. Although Leng Xi was a little angry, he still shook his clothes and sat down.
After everyone was seated, Li Tianyang spoke first:
"The king has sent a message. This time, not only will we prevent Leng Yu from returning, but we will also force the old emperor to abdicate. We have already arranged everything outside. We are just waiting for you and Prince Xi to cooperate with us to handle matters in the capital."
His words made Leng Xi's eyes flash with a hint of coldness. He looked at Li Tianyang, raised his finger and pointed at him and asked:
"What are you going to do?"
Li Tianyang looked at him and suddenly chuckled.
"Prince Xi, don't you want to sit on the throne? If so, don't ask me what I want to do. Just do what I say."
Concubine Li also kept winking at him, then looked at the masked woman and Li Tianyang with a smile.
"Don't mind me, Xi'er is just having a hard time thinking it through. I will try to persuade him."
Li Tianyang suddenly slammed his hand on the table in impatience, shouting, "Five years, and he still hasn't let it go? Now is the perfect time to act. If you don't cooperate with us this time, then our Chu State will not help you take the throne, and this throne will have to be re-named."
"You are outrageous."
Leng Xi suddenly slammed the table and stood up. He pointed at him and roared with a dark face:
"How dare you, you idiot, come before me and say such outrageous things? I'll have you arrested right now. Do you believe me?"
"Hahaha……"
Li Tianyang roared to the sky without fear, "Lord Xi, call someone in? Do you think we dare to come to your Xi Palace to admit our identities and purpose without any evidence? Humph!"
After saying this, he turned to look at Concubine Li, whose face was pale, with a cold light flashing in his eyes, and said sternly:
"Didn't you tell him your identity?"
Hearing him say this, Concubine Li shook her head in a panic, "No... Don't worry, I will persuade Xi'er. You can come back a few days later."
The woman who had been silent all of a sudden became very angry and raised her eyebrows:
"I don't have much time to play with you here. Give me an answer within three days, otherwise, Daning Jiangshan will change his surname to Meng!"
After leaving these words, she stood up and before leaving, she glanced at Leng Xi with half-closed eyes, then flicked her sleeves and left. Seeing this, Li Tianyang hurriedly followed her.
Concubine Li wanted to explain something, but the other party had already left without giving her a chance to speak.
When only Leng Xi and Li Fei were left here, he looked at Li Fei coldly and questioned her word by word.
"What's going on? Why do you feel so scared when you see them?"
Concubine Li was stunned for a moment, then bit her lip, stood up from her seat, and paced back and forth in the room. She looked very nervous.
After a while, she finally stopped, looked back at Leng Xi, breathed a sigh of relief, and said with a pale face:
"Xi'er, now that things have come to this, Mother can no longer hide it from you. Actually...actually, I am a spy sent by the State of Chu to the State of Daning. The State of Chu has been kind to me, allowing me to rise from a little palace maid to become an Imperial Concubine. I've enjoyed a prosperous life for so many years, and it's time I do something for my country."
She said this lightly, but Leng Xi was frightened. He stared at Concubine Li blankly, as if he didn't understand, and shook his head vigorously.
"Mother, are you kidding me?"
Concubine Li looked at him solemnly and shook her head heavily. "Mother knows you can't accept it for the time being, but this is the truth. So now we have no other choice. If your father knew my identity, you wouldn't have a good ending. Now the King of Chu has promised me that if I cooperate with them to seize the throne of Daning, the throne will be yours..."
“No…no…”
Leng Xi looked at Concubine Li as if in a dream. He was always indifferent, but suddenly his eyes turned red.
"That can't be the case. You're lying to me, right? You want me to cooperate with the Chu people, so you made up this lie to deceive me, right?"
"Xi'er..."
Concubine Li suddenly raised her voice to interrupt him, then slowly walked up to him, sighed deeply and continued:
"Mother also hopes this is a lie. Mother also doesn't want to be a spy, and people point fingers at her behind her back, but this is the fact, a fact that cannot be changed. The people of Chu have allowed Mother to be the imperial concubine of Daning Kingdom for so many years, which is already very kind. If you can take this opportunity to sit on the throne, then no one will ever know Mother's identity as a spy, and we can sit safely in the world of Daning Kingdom. Isn't that good?"
"Mother, do you want me to be a puppet emperor controlled by the Chu people?"
"That would be more comfortable than being a prisoner. Besides, the Emperor of Chu has also promised my mother that as long as we allocate some land to them and pay tribute to them on time, they will not interfere too much in the government of Daning State, nor will they impose any interference on your wishes."
Listening to Concubine Li's words, Leng Xi sat there in a daze. His brain seemed to be struck by lightning and he was unable to react for a while.
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